Not quite shades of the fabled "100 MPG carb," but not a good side (and from what I've read elsewhere, pretty accurate).But Professor Blythe, who is one of the key contributors to the government future transport strategy, claimed it was the manufacturers who were dragging their feet.
"We have had a lot of meetings with car companies, who promote their green credentials - but they say we are not going to do much for the next 20 to 30 years because our customers don't want to pay more.
"Japanese car manufacturers seem to be much more progressive than some of the European or American ones," he said.
Of course, promising automotive technology has been "squashed" by the government in the past.
(emphasis in original)Chrysler got some loans from the US Government...that much is certain. That Chrysler (as a condition of those loans) had to sell off Chrysler Defense and the M1 turbine-powered tank program is somewhat lesser known, but still public knowledge.
What is known only to a priveleged few is that the government killed a dream of a lifetime for a group of 70 people at the Chrysler "skunkworks" in Highland Park.
Believe it or not, Chrysler was days away from making a production decision (one which Iacocca favored) on a rather unique vehicle....
1981 Chrysler New Yorker Turbine car (M-body)... the car was ready to be tooled according to the head of the program, Mr. George Scheckter, whom I met when I got to see and touch the 1963 Turbine Car again in 1989. There was no more design work to be accomplished, just tool and start production.
The Turbine Engine was a fifth generation (not a 3rd generation like the 1963 car) engine capable of 22mpg in the EPA test cycles. To really make this sink in, one of the prototypes is still in existence (at least it was in 1989), stored in the same building as the 1963 car, its tooling and all the remaining spare parts (enough to build 3 more of the '63 cars).
Your government thought it was too much of a risk and ordered the car cancelled as "too risky, from an economic standpoint." Just imagine what COULD have happened!
The nice thing about turbines is that they can run on anything liquid and flammable. I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that Preston Tucker was researching turbine powered cars when he got shut down.
